SOFTBALL SECTION A Regular Season Structure and Procedures 1. NJCAA Eligibility rules will govern all college and individual participants, except where superseded by Region XIX rules. 2. Scheduling Protocol a. All Division II teams must schedule each other twice (one doubleheader). b. All Division III teams must schedule each other twice (one doubleheader). c. Regular season Region XIX doubleheaders shall consist of two seven (7) inning games. d. The halted game rule will be in effect for all Region XIX games. e. If the game is tied after the 7 th inning the approved tie breaker rule goes into effect immediately. The tie breaker rule states: During each half inning of the innings used to enforce the tie breaker rule, the offensive team shall begin its turn at bat with the player who is scheduled to bat in the ninth position in that respective inning starting the inning at second base. f. An eight (8) run mercy rule will be in effect for all Region XIX games, after the 5 th inning. At this point the game is declared an official game. g. For the purpose of establishing qualification for the Region Tournament, colleges may not add new games or drop originally scheduled games 14 days prior to the published seeding meeting for their respective tournament, unless to make up a region division game. Games previously scheduled, but postponed, may be rescheduled during this time period vs. the same opponent. 3. Schedule Conflicts If the Athletic Directors from both institutions cannot agree on a specific date, the Softball Committee will review the problem to determine the validity of the disagreement. If there is no valid justification for the disagreement, the game will be played according to the date shown on the master schedule. If valid justification is presented, the Softball Committee will work with both Athletic Directors to decide upon a mutually agreeable date. If no date is mutually agreeable, the Softball Committee will determine the game date. 1 P a g e
4. Team Travel a. If a visiting school arrives late (after 30 minutes prior to a contracted start time) to an away contest, but has notified the host institution (through confirmed phone conversation or text message with the host administrator) the team will receive a 25 minute period of time once the team, in its entirety, enters the building/playing venue and meets with the on-site event administrator. b. Teams that are traveling should adhere to the NJCAA Tournament guidelines for dress code. 5. Cancellations/Postponements/Rescheduling a. All scheduled games should, in good faith, be attempted to be played. If either college closes due to inclement weather, a scheduled game must be postponed. In the event a mutually agreeable make-up date cannot be determined between the participating Athletic Directors, the game must be played on the next available date when both teams are open and the home facility is available. b. In the event of a potential lack of players or circumstances preventing a contest to be played, timely communication between the involved institutions is essential. Offending institutions will be subject to the Standards & Ethics Code, Article VI Categories of Violations. 6. Rules of Play Region XIX will follow the rules of the NCAA/NJCAA unless otherwise indicated. This includes following the NCAA tie game rule as stipulated in the NCAA rulebook for regular season games. In addition, speed-up rules are not in effect during the regular season. The halted game rule will be in effect for all Region XIX regular season games beginning in the 2019 season. 7. Bench Personnel Each team shall be allowed the following personnel on their bench: o Institution certified coaches o Players in uniform o Medical personnel / athletic trainer o Statistician (1) o Injured players o Athletic Director or Administrator in charge Please note that individuals sitting out a suspension (refer to Ejection Policy for clarification) due to any region offense, will not be allowed to travel with the team (See Region XIX Bylaws for policy on away doubleheaders). Individuals who are academically ineligible will not be allowed on the bench, unless serving as the one (1) designated statistician. 2 P a g e
8. Warm-up Procedures The visiting team shall be provided the same opportunity as the home team for on-field or batting cage practice. The pregame schedule should follow the NCAA rulebook. 9. Official Game Ball Softballs should be the officially sanctioned NJCAA Softball as outlined in the NJCAA manual. 10. Event Management The following items relate to event management for all softball games within Region XIX. o It is recommended in Region XIX that a host institution provide an appropriate site manager (recognized Athletic Administrator) for each contest. o Water and cups must be provided for both teams o Colleges are urged to remind spectators that appropriate behavior is expected at all times. o It is recommended that the field be dragged and re-lined between games of a doubleheader. 11. Club Teams Any College fielding a club team must follow all NJCAA, NCAA and Region XIX regulations, including; filing an NJCAA Club Form, pay Region dues, adhere to uniform rules, follow ejection policies for coaches and players as well as reporting these ejections, follow home game supervision requirements and use game officials under contract with Region XIX. SECTION B Officials/Umpires 1. All institutions offering softball need to have umpires assigned through the Region XIX assignor. 2. All regular season games should have 2 umpires 3. There will be three (3) umpires for the semi-finals and championship game(s) of the Region Tournament. 4. All umpires for tournament games will be assigned by the central assignor. 5. If less than the assigned number of officials arrives for a game, the game will be played with available officials. SECTION C Region XIX Website / Reporting of Scores / Statistics 1. Team schedules and rosters must be entered, prior to the start of the season, on the Region XIX and NJCAA websites. 2. Teams are responsible for inputting scores on both the Region XIX and NJCAA websites immediately after the completion of their contests. 3. Colleges that fail to update their respective sport rosters, schedules, statistics and/or scores will be referred to the Standards and Ethics committee. 4. Individual statistics must be up-to-date in order to nominate a student-athlete for various Player of the Week awards. 3 P a g e
SECTION D Regional Tournament Format 1. The Region XIX Softball Division II and Division III tournaments are double elimination and will be played in accordance with district and national dates. 2. The Region XIX softball final four will be held at a site predetermined and approved by the Athletic Directors of Region XIX and the Championship Events Committee. 3. All teams will be seeded and will maintain their seeds throughout the tournament. 4. Highest rank team(s) may receive a bye(s), depending on the number of teams that qualify for the tournament. 5. All tournament games will be seven (7) innings with the following exceptions: the eight-run mercy rule as stated in the NJCAA handbook. Teams can be eliminated by these rules except in the championship game(s). 6. There is no tie breaker rule in the tournament 7. Tournament games which are delayed because of rain, light failure and so forth will be resumed at the point of suspension regardless of the number of innings played. 8. If eight (8) or less teams are involved, the following format will be utilized: a. Best 2 out of 3 series at the higher seed (higher seed is home team for all games in the series). b. A doubleheader is played on Tuesday, with game one at 3:30pm and game two starting 20 minutes after the completion of the first. c. If a third game is necessary, it will be played on Wednesday at 4:30pm at the higher seed. d. All first round game scores must be reported to the tournament director immediately after the games (2 nd game on Tuesday). 9. If more than eight (8) teams qualify for the Region XIX tournament, the following process would be utilized: a. A rat-tail game would be played to qualify for one of the eight (8) bracket spots #9 seed would play #8 seed at the #1 seed #10 seed would play #7 seed at the #2 seed b. These games would be played at 3:30pm on Tuesday as part of a doubleheader. The highest seed will be the home team. Teams will share equally in the cost of the umpires for the rat-tail game. The winner of the rat-tail will advance to a best 2 out of 3 series vs. one of the top four seeds. The loser of the rat-tail game is eliminated. c. The first game of the best of 3 series will begin 20 minutes after the completion of the rat-tail game. The higher seed is the home team. d. The second and third (if necessary) games of the series will be played on Wednesday at the higher seed, starting at 3:30pm. The third game (if needed) will start 20 minutes after the completion of game two. The higher seed is the home team for all games of the series. e. All scores must be reported to the Tournament Director. 4 P a g e
10. If the double-elimination tournament has not begun two days prior to the final day listed in the NJCAA handbook, the tournament shall become single elimination. Every effort will be made to conclude the tournament one day prior to the final play date listed in the NJCAA handbook. Inclement weather may push the tournament to the final play date listed in the NJCAA handbook. Should play not be concluded on the final play date, the highest seed of teams still remaining in the tournament will advance to the national or district tournament. 11. Effective Spring 2015, Region XIX will receive two bids to the NJCAA Division III national tournament. The championship weekend schedule will be as follows: SATURDAY 10am Game One: #1/5 seed vs. #4/8 seed 12 pm Game Two: #1/5 seed vs. #4/8 seed 2pm Game Three: #2/7 seed vs. #3/6 seed 4pm Game Four: #2/7 seed vs. #3/6 seed SUNDAY 11am Game Five if necessary - #1/5 seed vs. #4/8 seed 1pm Game Six if necessary - #2/7 seed vs. #3/6 seed SECTION E Regional Tournament Qualification 1. All Region Tournaments will consist of a minimum of four (4) teams that achieved a.500 overall record or.500 region division record by the day prior to the published seeding date. In the event that four (4) teams do not qualify under the.500 rule, the team(s) with the best region division record(s) will make the tournament. In the event of a tie in relation to the region division record to get the minimum number of four (4) teams, all teams that are tied will then qualify for the tournament. 2. Any additional teams with a.500 (or greater) winning percentage overall or in region divisional play may participate. 3. All records on the Region XIX website shall be regarded as official when no later information is available to be used in determining selections. SECTION F Regional Tournament Seeding 1. The criteria for Division II and Division III seeding will be as follows: o Region XIX / Division Record o If two teams are tied, head to head competition will be used to break the tie. If a tie still exists, the team with the higher winning percentage against teams seeded higher, in descending order, than the teams which are tied will get the higher seed. If a tie still exists, the team with the higher winning percentage against teams participating in the tournament, in descending order, will be the higher seed. o Forfeited Region XIX games, within your division, will be counted as wins and losses for seeding purposes. o In the event that three or more teams are tied, head to head competition among all the teams (as if they were in their division) will be used to break the tie. If this tie breaker 5 P a g e
defines one spot, but not all, the remaining teams head to head records will once again be compared, followed by the remaining teams records against the teams seeded higher in descending order. Examples will be referenced in Appendix A. SECTION G Regional Tournament Entry Fees 1. There is no entry fee for the Region XIX Softball Tournament. SECTION H Regional Tournament Logistics 1. The host college will provide an official scorer during the tournament 2. The host college will provide dressing facilities 3. Housing and meals will be the responsibility of each entrant 4. The tournament host sets the sites for games 1 and 2 of the Final Four (when two fields are utilized). 5. For the first round games, the host college will pay for umpires and supply official NJCAA softballs. 6. Teams shall retain their seed throughout the tournament in both DII and DIII. 7. All fields used for hosting the regional tournament must legal per NJCAA /NCAA rulebook. Portable fences are acceptable. 8. All teams in the tournament shall provide four (4) NJCAA approved softballs for each game. 9. Any changes in time, location, etc. of Region XIX tournament games must be cleared through the appropriate Region Director. 10. The tournament host shall have choice of dugout. If the host team is not competing, the higher seed shall have the choice of dugout. 11. Whenever possible the host team, or co-host team, shall play at their own field during the tournament for the ease of grounds keeping and handling emergency situations. If the hosts are playing each other, the game will be at the higher seeds field. In all instances, the higher seed will bat last. SECTION I Regional Tournament Awards 1. The Awards Committee Chair will have the appropriate tournament awards shipped to the host institution. The host institution will receive an invoice from Region XIX and shall reimburse the Region treasury. 2. The following awards will be presented: o Championship Trophy/Plaque to each district winner o MVP Award to a player on each district winning team 3. The MVP awards shall be chosen by a committee, which typically involves the tournament director, the committee chairperson, assistant chair, and/or available region executive committee members or athletic administrators providing coverage for the event. 6 P a g e
SECTION J Regular Season Awards / All-Region Team 1. The coaches of the two championship teams will be named Region XIX Coach of the Year. 2. An All-Region Team will be selected by balloting of all the Region XIX coaches in their respective divisions. 3. The procedure for nominating and voting is as follows: o Balloting Chairperson will send out the official Region XIX nomination form, which should be signed and returned to the chair by the date indicated. Coaches will nominate players in order of ability as indicated on the form. o Each coach may nominate an unlimited number of players from his/her team. o Pitcher- to be considered for nomination, player must pitch in at least 40% of the teams games. o Defensive Player- to be considered for nomination, player must participate in 60% of the teams games at the specified position. o Utility Player- to be considered for nomination the player must have played at least two or more positions with not more than 60% of playing time at one positions. Breakdown should be indicated on nominating form. (Example: 10/ SS, 12/OF, 14/DP in 36 games) stats must also be provided for each position. o After all nominations are collected, each coach will receive the official Region XIX ballot and voting form from the balloting chairperson and will be asked to select and rank players according to their abilities. Coaches must vote for 4 infielders, 3 outfielders, 2 pitchers, 1 catcher and 1 utility. Each All-Region team will consist of 4 infielders, 3 outfielders, 2 pitchers, 1 catcher and 1 utility. The best player will receive the number of points equal to the number of players being selected, down to the final selection receiving one (1) point. Coaches may not vote for their own players. o Coaches should be reminded when voting for All-Region, the All-Region Team shall recognize the most outstanding student-athletes in his/her sport regardless of institution. The All Region team selections shall reflect the excellence of junior college athletics by identifying our finest student-athletes. In so doing, we enhance the image of all Region XIX programs and our student-athletes. o After tallying the votes, the players will be awarded All-Region status by being placed on eleven (11) player teams. The number of teams selected will be in accordance with Article IV Section D of the Region XIX Bylaws. o Numerical ties for a player ranked in the top five (5) will be broken by awarding the higher place to the player with the most #1 votes. If still tied, #2 votes will be utilized, down the line until the tie is broken. Numerical ties for a player ranked out of the top five (5) will result in both players making the respective team. o Coaches will vote on the top ranked position players to determine the Region Player of the Year o The top ranked pitcher will be named the Region Pitcher of the Year. o Ballots must be received by the chairperson one (1) week prior to the start of the Region Tournament in order to be counted. 7 P a g e
o Coaches not voting will have student-athletes representing their institution removed from the ballot. 4. Colleges that do not have up to date statistics on the NJCAA website will not be allowed to nominate student-athletes for All-Region honors. 5. Nominations for NJCAA All-American will be derived from the All-Region Team results. 6. As voted by the directors and recommended by the coaches, All Region voting may either be completed in person, via tele/video conference or by paper ballot. SECTION K Code of Conduct 1. All members of teams including players, coaches, trainers, scorekeepers, and spectators will follow the Code of Conduct enforced by the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) throughout all contests. SECTION L NJCAA / Region XIX Ejection Policy 1. If a coach is ejected from a Region XIX contest and there is no college approved representative designated by the Athletic Director present, then the game is terminated and forfeited at that point. Also the coach must sit the next scheduled contest. If the ejection occurs in the last game of the season the ejection will carry into the following year. 2. An athlete ejected from any Region XIX contest for any reason must sit the next game. If the ejection occurs in the last game of the season and/or playoff game the suspension will carry into the following season of eligibility used in this sport. 3. Any player ejected for fighting or violent act, will sit the next two (2) contests. If the ejection occurs in the last game of the season and/or playoff game the suspension will carry into the following season of eligibility used in this sport. A second ejection for fighting in a season will result in that player suspended from competition in that sport for the remainder of the season. Reminder: NJCAA and NCAA rules may allow for more severe penalties. Region XIX will impose the most severe penalty allowable. 4. In the event of any ejection, an ejection report must be filed with the Region Director. The AD's of both colleges should file the appropriate NJCAA ejection form to the Region Director. 5. Personnel and athletes suspended under the NJCAA rules shall not be allowed in the facility/gym/field complex before or during the contest and may not coach or participate before the game, during play or at halftime. Suspended coaches may travel with the team, but only to drive a van, they are not allowed in the venue. Suspended athletes may not travel with the team while serving a suspension. SECTION M Health and Safety 1. In regard to an open wound, under circumstances when constant or profuse bleeding occurs, the participant shall be immediately removed from that contest by the coach or official and cannot return until the bleeding has stopped. 2. The use of all tobacco products by any coach, player, official, or other individual involved in the conducting of any NJCAA sanctioned or sponsored regular season or post season play is prohibited within the confines of the playing area. Any individual not in compliance shall be disqualified from further participation in that contest. 8 P a g e
3. Visiting teams utilizing home team training services must provide athletic tape and other sports medicine related items. SECTION N Region XIX Divisional Breakdown Region XIX Division II 1. Rowan College @ Burlington County 2. Morris 3. Del Tech 4. Lackawanna 5. Mercer 6. Raritan Valley Region XIX Division III 1. Bergen 2. Brookdale 3. Camden 4. Cumberland 5. RCGC 6. Middlesex 7. Ocean APPENDIX A 8. Sussex 9. Northampton 10. Montgomery 11. Lehigh Carbon 12. Luzerne 13. Bucks 1. Teams A, B and C are tied for 5 th place in an 8 team tournament. In head to head Region competition, Team A is 3-1 against B and C; Team B is 2-2 and Team C is 1-3. In this case, Team A is the 5 th seed, Team B is 6 th and Team C is 7 th. Note: the fact that A and B split with each other does not come into play. 2. Four teams are tied, Team A swept the head to head competition and is 6-0. The other 3 teams all split in head to head and are 2-4 against the group of tied teams. In this case, Team A will get the highest seed of the group. The next tie breaker will not be usable since the teams split with each other. Therefore, the record against the higher seeded teams in the tournament in descending order will come into play. 3. Four teams are tied. Their record in head to head competition is: Team A is 4-2, Team B is 3-3, Team C is 3-3, and Team D is 2-4. Team A gets the highest seed, Team D gets the lowest seed and Teams B and C begin the tie breaking process beginning with head to head against each other. Approved: 10/01/03 Revision: 1/13/09 Revision: 7/28/2011 (TT) Revision: 7/24/2012 (TT/JK) Revision: 9/17/2012 (TT) 9 P a g e
1/13/2013 (TT) 8/24/2013 (TT) 3/2/2015 (TT) 10/5/2015 (TT) 7/31/2016 (TT) 1/12/2019 (TT) 10 P a g e